The Miami track surface and 'Mickey Mouse' section that ruin 'amazing' F1 circuit

The other big issue is the actual track surface, something that track designers Apex are particularly proud of, as they used American-sourced materials in the “recipe” for the asphalt.

It didn’t go entirely to plan as in two points it began to show signs of damage on Thursday before any racing cars had hit the track, and after running only by the safety car and hot laps for VIPs in various supercars.

The damage was at Turns 7, the tightening left-hander adjacent to the infamous fake marina, and the Turn 17, the hairpin that leads onto the pit straight.

It was known that there  was a specific issue with the surface process at those two points, so there were no worries that it would extend elsewhere. Those points were patched up on Thursday night, and there was more work at Turn 7 on Friday night.

However the gripe of the drivers concerns the whole track, and specifically the lack of grip available as soon as they stray off the rubbered-in racing line. That means that it’s much harder to duck out from behind someone and attempt a pass.

The situation was discussed in the drivers’ briefing on Friday, and some drivers were so frustrated after two days of running had failed to improve the situation that they went public with their concerns following qualifying.

“I think most importantly the surface is a joke,” said Sergio Perez when I asked if he thought there will be any passing in Sunday’s race. “Tomorrow the racing is going be difficult. And you’re going to have the drivers making mistakes because we’ve been put into this situation.”

“It’s still very difficult to go offline,” said Fernando Alonso. “So it’s going to be difficult. We said yesterday that the track, the tarmac, is not F1 standards. Nothing we can do. I think this weekend we need to put the show, but this has to change for next year. It’s very difficult to race like this.”

Ricciardo was clearly frustrated that there are few options in terms of the lines that can be used.

“You literally have to just stay on that one line,” he said. “Otherwise, you’re not not really on the track anymore.

“So actually instead of kind of making it a kind of a good challenge, it just makes it a little bit, in a way, like one-dimensional, because you only have kind of that one option of that one line where a little bit of rubber building up. So I don’t want to lie and say I like the surface.”

The concern for drivers is that we won’t get the sort of show that they, and the fans, have been expected.

“On the racing line it’s not bad grip, is reasonable-ish,” said Norris. “I think it’s just very hot, which makes it feel even worse. The fact is just offline it’s really, really terrible.

“And we come to the races, and there’s so many fans here. And everyone expects such an amazing race. So when you come to it, and then they’re trying something new with the surface, and something they’ve not really done before, then I think we end up in a position like we are.

“You don’t want everyone to be exactly the same, every track, you like the differences, you like them to be unique.

“But when there’s so much expectation, and you want good racing, and you want us to provide good racing and entertainment and everything, and then there’s a surface, which they’re trying and they just kind of winging it in a way to see what it’s going to be like…

“It’s not good enough, because then we can’t do what they require, we can’t put on a good show. We can’t race. It’s not our fault, but it’s a shame.”

New circuits often have issues, but Norris is adamant that the actual surface is at fault.

“I think if it was a surface like we have in Saudi, for instance,” he said. “It’s just very high grip in general, it survives in hot temperatures, then I think everyone will be looking forward to an extremely exciting Sunday,” he said.

“Because you can go wide, you can do different lines, you can do alternate lines, you can do everything. Whereas tomorrow, everyone’s pretty much stuck to just following line is there and then it’s always a lot more difficult to race that way.”

The chances are we will still get an entertaining race today, as there is scope for plenty of action, and perhaps some of the gripes will be forgotten. Let’s see how it unfolds…